


I Have Chains Honey, You Have Keys

by LaraWrites



Series: Some Strange Hold [2]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: AU, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lesbian AU, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 06:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11708721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaraWrites/pseuds/LaraWrites
Summary: Why is Sasha acting strange every time Shea talks about moving to Brooklyn? And why is Shea so affected by it? Marshmallows and coffee ensue in a very small fluff-and-angst fic inspired by Cereus Bright's song 'Some Strange Hold'





	I Have Chains Honey, You Have Keys

“You’re not listening are you?”

She wasn’t. Shea had been talking about apartments on and off for well over a week and Sasha very rarely listened when she started mentioning furniture or geographical location. Shea was clearly very excited about making the move and Sasha hardly noticed her while she read out descriptions.

“Come on Sash, you’re not even _trying_ to _pretend_ to listen. At least nod every once in a while!” Sasha looked up from her laptop with a thoughtful nod and Shea threw a pillow at her. “Bitch,” She said with a smile, trying to hide how upset she was by her girlfriend’s lack of enthusiasm.

Shea had pretty much been living with Sasha on and off for the past few months. The pair had met up frequently after the party and kept messaging each other even after Shea returned to Chicago. Shea took trips back and forth between cities and twice she had managed to drag Sasha out of NYC and home to Chicago, where she threatened to smack the girl every time she dared complain about anything.

But she was ready to make a permanent move to the big city; she already had a job lined up in a costume company for Broadway musicals and her things were packed and ready to be moved. All she needed was somewhere to move them to. She enjoyed scrolling through the internet and checking out apartments but she had never gone much further than that.

Sasha crawled over to the other end of the bed, a grin plastered on her face.  
“Can we go out tonight?” She asked. Shea frowned and looked out the window at the rapidly darkening sky.  
“Uh… it is night?” She replied, and Sasha shrugged.  
“Can we go out now then?”  
“Like, do you wanna go _out_ out or like for food out?” Sasha let her head drop onto the bed even as she maintained eye contact with her girlfriend.  
“Whatever you want,” She said, “I just wanna get out of the apartment; I don’t think I’ve left this place for like two days,”

“That’s because you’re a slob,” Shea said as she picked herself up off the bed and crossed the room to retrieve her jeans. “Get dressed then bitch, we’ll do something fancy and romantic,”  
“Yeah?” Sasha asked excitedly, scrambling to pull on an oversized jumper.  
“Yeah, like a campfire? If you can think of somewhere?”  
“Sure,” Sasha replied, wracking her brains for a suitable place while she hunted for a pair of socks.

They left as soon as they were dressed and Sasha insisted on driving them, even though Shea complained there was nothing wrong with public transport. Sasha drove the twenty minutes to the nearest campsite and the pair wandered through the woods until they were in deep enough that they weren’t likely to be discovered by others.

“Why do I feel like you know how to start a real good fire?” Sasha asked, and Shea produced a box of matches with a grin.  
“Bitch I was a girl guide,”  
“I knew it,” Sasha chuckled, marvelling as she watched Shea build up a structure of twigs and use cotton wool balls to start a fire.  
“Then you build it up with bigger sticks,” She said, encouraging Sasha to find sticks to add. Together they built up an impressive campfire and Sasha pulled out the marshmallows they had stopped to buy on the way.

She sat next to Shea and skewered her marshmallow, placing right into the centre of the fire.  
“Girl that’s gonna burn,” Shea said, “It’s gonna catch fire and you’ll be eating charcoal,”  
“Gooey charcoal,” Sasha pointed out, swearing when her marshmallow lit up. She blew it out and counted to ten before taking a small bite of the charred snack.  
“Mmm,” She purred, “Delicious!”  
“It looks it,”  
“You want one?” Sasha reached in for another but Shea shook her head with a grin.  
“I’ll pass thanks honey,”

“We can do shit like this all the time when I move here,” Shea began, poking the fire with a stick. “We can take turns staying at yours and at mine, and oh my god you can totally have your own draw at my place like they do in the movies,”  
“Uh-huh,” Sasha seemed entirely focussed on roasting her marshmallow, and Shea bristled at her lack of enthusiasm and continued.  
“I mean, I’m only looking for a small apartment; nothing special. I want a cosy little place just like yours, and wouldn’t it be great if I also got one with a balcony on the west so we could watch the sunset?”  
“I doubt you’d find one,” Sasha said honestly. Shea frowned, defeated, and didn’t reply.

They sat together and listened to the music Shea was playing through her speakers. She knew that in moments like this- when they were doing something romantic or were alone together in the dark- that Sasha liked her ‘chill’ playlist, with slow acoustic guitars or quiet vocals. Shea liked her music to reflect her mood, always, and right now she felt so content in a remote setting with the girl that she loved. She felt like the luckiest person in the world.

“I’d like to do this more often,” Sasha said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper as she rested her head on Shea’s shoulder. Shea smiled and dropped a kiss onto Sasha’s hairline as a reply, snaking her arm around her girlfriend’s tiny body and hooking it on her waist, rubbing circles onto her skin under her jumper.

 Sasha felt so at peace she closed her eyes to really appreciate the moment; to focus entirely on how she felt. She wanted to take it all in; the silence of the woods around them broken only by an occasional cricket or other critter, the smell of the fire combined with the scorched marshmallow she had dropped into the flames and Shea’s sweet wildflower perfume, the feel of Shea’s soft hoodie against her cheek as she felt warm hands on the smooth skin of her waist. She wanted to take it all in so she could relive this exact moment whenever she wanted.

If Shea had seen her- eyes scrunched up and so focussed she almost forgot to breathe- she would have laughed at her affectionately, but Sasha knew that Shea was thinking about it too; about how perfect everything was in that very moment. Sasha’s mind was so colourful; it worked in bright pictures and visual images and sensations, but she knew Shea worked with words. Shea thought of the perfect word to describe everything; from the mystical ambience of the twilight surrounding them to the crisp, biting air that was unable to touch them in their haven.

“What time is it?” Shea asked eventually, breaking their silence. Sasha dragged her phone out of her pocket.  
“Like 12:30,” She replaced it and sat up with a yawn. “What time do you wanna go back?”  
“Let’s just stay a little longer,” Shea said with a smile, signalling their dying fire, “At least until that stops burning,”  
“Babe I’d stay here overnight if you wanted to,” Sasha said, her eyes gleaming. Shea met her mischievous gaze and widened her eyes.  
“Should we?”  
“Totally,”  
“It’s gonna get colder,”  
“So? We’ll keep each other warm,”  
“I’m wearing jeans,”  
“Cry me a river,”

Shea chuckled and shook her head, thinking of the warmth and comfort of Sasha’s queen sized bed compared to the hard ground surrounding them, but when Sasha pulled her into her arms and kissed her she knew her mind was made up and they weren’t going anywhere.  
“Okay,” She conceded when she pulled away from the kiss, “Fuck it, let’s stay!”  
“Yay!” Sasha cheered, “Who is this new, adventurous Shea Coulee?”

Shea shook her head as she chuckled, adding more nearby sticks to their fire, deciding that if they were gonna stay they may as well stay warm.

 

* * *

 

 

“I just don’t really have a sense of humour,”  
“That’s bullshit, you’re one of the most sardonic people I know,”  
“That’s cynicism, not humour,”  
“It’s sarcasm and it’s humour,”

Sasha stepped in front of her in the queue to order their coffee and Shea rolled her eyes, following behind and snorting when Sasha finished ordering and turned around to poke out her tongue childishly. It wasn’t unusual for the pair to get a coffee together before Sasha went into the office and Shea caught the subway to Manhattan. In fact, they had done it so often that Sasha didn’t even have to consult her girlfriend before ordering her an Americano with an extra shot.

They took their drinks back to Sasha’s car and she insisted on dropping Shea off at the station. They planned to meet at the station later; Shea was viewing her first apartment and she was dragging Sasha along for a second opinion.

 Shea collected her things up into her bag, knocking over her hot coffee in her haste and spilling it all over the teal dress Sasha was wearing.  
“Fuck!” Sasha exclaimed, pulling away a moment too late and dabbing at her soaked dress.  
“Shit, Sasha, I’m so sorry!” Shea replied, “It was an accident,”  
“Shit shit shit,” Sasha hissed. She sighed in frustration and waved one hand as the other came up to her forehead. “Its fine, Shea,”  
“It’s obviously not,”  
“Shea!” Sasha snapped, “Its fine I’ll change later,”

Shea didn’t want to point out she wouldn’t have time to change as she’d have to go straight from work to pick her up so they had time to view the apartment so she kept her mouth closed, apologising quietly as she closed the door. She didn’t know why she felt so guilty; it was an accident after all and accidents happen, there was nothing she could do about it now.

Sasha was being blunt with her and she didn’t know why, but it was making her very upset. It was all she could think about as she travelled to work and she was distracted and distant all day. She knew that the viewing wouldn’t be any fun now because Sasha might still be mad at her, and it really had been an accident. There was nothing more Shea could have done.

When Sasha pulled over outside the station in a change of clothes later that evening Shea had decided while she wasn’t going to apologise again she was ready to be sickly-sweet for a while in order to atone. There was no need, however, because when she opened the door of the car she noticed something on the seat she was about to sit on. She picked up the emerald green heels and gasped, taking them in from the sparkles on the strap to the hollow glass heels, at least six inches high, filled with green glitter.

Sasha hardly looked at her.  
“We used them in a magazine spread and I managed to grab them afterwards; they reminded me of you,” Shea replied with a subdued thank you and decided this was definitely Sasha’s way of saying sorry for snapping earlier.

It seemed her mood hadn’t improved however, as she hardly spoke a word as Shea greeted the enthusiastic young estate agent and listened to her list various details about the property. The apartment was central; midway between the subway station and Sasha’s house and even though it was on the ninth floor Shea commented that it made her feel closer to the stars. Sasha offered her a small smile but didn’t reply as they exited the lift and entered the apartment.

Although it was smaller than Sasha’s, it had everything Shea could possibly need. The kitchen was one of the largest rooms in the house and there was a sizeable double bed in the bedroom directly opposite an incredibly large wardrobe and plan blackout drapes Shea decided she would keep. The estate agent kept rattling off information and mentioning every good point there was to the apartment whilst artfully ignoring the tiny bathroom and stained carpets.

Shea didn’t mind though; it was cosy and homey and she liked it. She turned to Sasha, who was on her phone.  
“What do you think?” She asked. Sasha didn’t even look up from her phone, she shrugged nonchalantly and Shea felt her temper flare up. She had had enough of Sasha’s ridiculous and childish behaviour. One minute she was her usual bubbly self and the next she was being snappy and cruel and Shea was done with putting up with it.

“Could you give us a minute?” She asked the estate agent and even as she left the apartment- to go to her car to fetch more files- Sasha didn’t lower her phone.  
“Sasha,” Shea spoke, her tone quiet but angry, “I am sick of your bullshit,”  
“Huh?” Sasha finally put her phone away and frowned at her girlfriend.

“You’re being petty and mean,” Shea said indignantly. “Every time I try to talk about moving in here you stop listening and act all bored and it hurts my feelings. I’m excited to make this change for us but you just keep shutting me down,” She waited for a reply but Sasha didn’t offer her one, staring at her suede boots and shrugging. “Why are you acting like this Sash? I thought you’d be really interested in all this; because of all the interior design and stuff. Don’t you want me to move to Brooklyn? I thought you wanted me to live closer,”

Sasha looked up suddenly; pain in her wide blue eyes.  
“Of course I do Shea,” She mumbled. “It’s not that,”  
“Then what is it?” Shea folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently, “Because you’re acting like a child and I’m sick of it. It makes me sad because I am so excited about moving here to start my new life with you and you don’t seem to want that,”

“I want you to live with me Shea!” Sasha burst out suddenly. “I don’t want you to live in an apartment in the middle of nowhere; I want you in _my_ apartment. I want to wake up next to you every single morning, I want our mail to be delivered to the same address. I want to be a permanent part of your life. I want you to move in with me,” She sighed and collapsed onto the sofa. “That’s why I’ve been so snappy and uninterested and I’m sorry Shea, I didn’t mean to hurt you,”

Shea paused; her arms still folded, her tapping foot paused. She drew in a long breath and let it out slowly, watching Sasha sit with her head in her hands and her elbows resting on her knees. She wandered forward slowly, letting out a sigh as she collapsed on the sofa next to her girlfriend and warped her arms around her, pulling her into a hug.  
“Why didn’t you say so, dummy?”  
“I wanted to,” Sasha replied, her voice muffled by Shea’s hair. “I was just afraid of you turning me down,”

Shea pulled out of the hug and held Sasha’s face in between her hands, looking into her eyes.  
“I would frickin love to move in with you, Sash,” She said with a grin. “I’m so glad you asked,” She leaned in for a small kiss, pulling back and adding, “But girl you gotta start talking to me, and telling me what’s on your mind. Deal?”  
“It’s a deal,” Sasha said with a watery smile. “I’m sorry I fucked up your viewing,”

“This place smells anyway,” Shea decided rather suddenly, rising from the sofa and pulling Sasha with her. “Come on let’s go, I’m starving and we have so much to plan!”  
“We do?”  
“I’m happy to move in Sasha but I cannot abide your bright orange curtains, they generate their own sun and wake me up even before dawn,”

At that moment the young estate agent came back in and Shea told her it was a real shame but something had just cropped up and actually, she wouldn’t need the apartment after all.

**Author's Note:**

> The amount of times I have accidentally written Shasha is unreal


End file.
